Aye, thar's the rub: as long as you're fit-as-a-fiddle in the first place (and/or if you had previously treated and now stable conditions) then you're likely to get out of the examining room with wallet intact. But woe to the patient who also has new issues:

"[Y]ou will not be covered if you want to discuss any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to another code — that’s illegal."

In other words, if you're in for your routine exam, make sure not to ask the doctor about your stiff neck or new-found acid reflux. You'll need another appointment for that, one in which your deductible or co-pay will apply.

But hey, it's free, right?

BONUS: Dr Weiss also takes his scalpel to the canard of "the rich doctor" (gee, where have we heard that term before?):

"[D]octors are not rich and, like most of you, actually work terribly hard for a living. Second, Obamacare is the law — and as I said earlier, we are audited all the time now."

And this is only going to get worse: as we've noted, there's already a shortage of providers, and Dr Weiss thinks we're seeing just the beginning of of that trend:

"By 2014, less than 25% of physicians will be in private medicine. Obama was right in stating you can keep your doctor if you want to — the problem is he or she will rarely be available."

Aye, thar's the rub: as long as you're fit-as-a-fiddle in the first place (and/or if you had previously treated and now stable conditions) then you're likely to get out of the examining room with wallet intact. But woe to the patient who also has new issues:

"[Y]ou will not be covered if you want to discuss any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to another code — that’s illegal."

In other words, if you're in for your routine exam, make sure not to ask the doctor about your stiff neck or new-found acid reflux. You'll need another appointment for that, one in which your deductible or co-pay will apply.

But hey, it's free, right?

BONUS: Dr Weiss also takes his scalpel to the canard of "the rich doctor" (gee, where have we heard that term before?):

"[D]octors are not rich and, like most of you, actually work terribly hard for a living. Second, Obamacare is the law — and as I said earlier, we are audited all the time now."

And this is only going to get worse: as we've noted, there's already a shortage of providers, and Dr Weiss thinks we're seeing just the beginning of of that trend:

"By 2014, less than 25% of physicians will be in private medicine. Obama was right in stating you can keep your doctor if you want to — the problem is he or she will rarely be available."